Monthly Archives: December 2016

Christmas Giving

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I’ve probably posted on this subject every year for the past ten years. I feel like the Grinch! I really don’t like to shop, and rarely know what to give my family, yet I need to make the effort.

My oldest sister gave me a book I can’t wait to read. My younger sister, who knows that we love to watch our backyard birds, gave us a suet holder and suet, and birdseed bells. Both of these are perfect gifts, something I really enjoy. Now, why couldn’t I remember that they love these things, too?

I told someone recently that I thought we should either have a specific limit as to how much we could spend on a gift, or, perhaps we should try having a year where we only gave things we made. I’ve been operating along a mix of those two ideas for a while, and both of them have pros and cons. It takes a lot of time to make things for my entire family, and not everyone wants something I can make. There are times when the perfect gift falls outside the cash limit that has been set. I need more ideas. I want to give more than a card, but not be bankrupt at the end of the holidays.

And, time is always an issue. I may have to start working on Christmas in September to accomplish everything. It takes a LOT longer these days to get it all done.

I feel very Grinch-y right now. It’s a good thing Christmas is past.

I Love Winter

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I love winter when the sidewalks have been shoveled and the pavement is dry. I love winter when the roads are plowed and there is no slipping or skidding of cars on the road. I love winter when I can stand inside my cozy home and look out on the new-fallen, glittery white snow. I love winter when the temperature is between 30 and 40. I love winter when there is little wind, and very little wind chill.

I really do like winter, but as I age, the danger of slipping as I walk is a much more serious matter than it used to be. I don’t drive in snow storms unless I have no option. I don’t own clothing appropriate for temperatures below 20, or for snows higher than about six inches, and I don’t really want to!

Now that we live in a subdivision with sidewalks, we have to shovel, but the driveway is quite short, and the sidewalk length is manageable if we double team it. Still, I need to find someone to do our shoveling. Dear Husband shouldn’t be lifting heavy, wet snow, and I really don’t care to do the entire job on my own.

On the bright side, winter gives me a chance to piece quilts! I can hibernate in the basement, and sew to my heart’s content. Some days I barely make it upstairs in time for meals, and it’s a darned good thing that my hubby knows how to cook!

When spring arrives, perhaps the neighbors will see me once more.

Christmas Cookies

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I’ve been baking, and I expect to bake all this week. I started with Turtle Pecan Shortbread. The picture looked wonderful, and the shortbread, which had almond extract, smelled heavenly! But, the caramel was a problem. You’re supposed to melt 24 caramels, and then dip two sides of the pie-shaped cookies in the caramel, and then in chopped pecans. The caramel is so hard and chewy you could break your teeth on it!

I have about 18 shortbread left that didn’t get to meet the caramel. I’m going to use chocolate to glue half a pecan on the center of each, and then drizzle them with chocolate. I’m thinking about dredging one edge in the melted chocolate and then in pecans, but I may opt for the easier version.

On the more successful side, I’ve baked Russian Tea Cakes (the little confectioner sugar snowballs), Peanut Butter Blossoms (which aren’t really a Christmas cookie, but are something my family likes at Christmas) and Thumbprints. I’ve frozen the Thumbprints, to be filled with jelly and/or icing later this week. I followed the directions, but they still turned out to be a two-bite cookie. I’ll have to talk with my youngest sis to see how she does them, because hers are one-bite.

I’ve also made fudge with semi-sweet chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla and walnuts. And, I’ve made Haystacks with milk chocolate. I’m thinking about one more run of fudge, with milk chocolate.

I’m working on Kolache, the kind which are made from LOTS of butter, cream cheese and flour. I plan to use raspberry and apricot fillings, and I’m going to create and fill the cookies and then freeze them. They can be baked Christmas Eve morning.

I also plan to make “Fanciful Raspberry Ribbons,” and Sugar Crisp. (LOTS of Sugar Crisp.) That should be more than enough to create gift trays and have plenty for our house, too. I hope I manage to get them all done, and artfully arranged on the trays by Christmas Eve!

Andy

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My nephew, John Andrew McGrath has passed away at 57. He had been ill for some time, and in great pain, and I believe his body was just worn out from the fight of dealing with it.

Andy will be cremated, and in a week there will be a visitation and funeral. If I can, and I’m not sure my tears will let me, I’d like to say this to those gathered:

HE’S AT PEACE. HE’S NO LONGER IN PAIN.

HE FOUGHT THE GOOD FIGHT, AND GOD SAID, “IT’S TIME. COME HOME.”

WE MAY WANT TO QUIBBLE WITH GOD ABOUT WHO NEEDS HIM MORE, BUT I THINK GOD WOULD UNDERSTAND THAT WE MISS ANDY, SORELY. BUT ANDY IS FREE OF PAIN. HOW COULD WE BEGRUDGE HIM THE SURCEASE?

I HAVE MEMORIES OF ANDY, SOME OF THEM SHARED WITH ME BY OTHERS…

OF OUR SOCIAL ANDY RUNNING DOWN ROUTE 59 IN PLAINFIELD IN A SAGGY DIAPER, HAVING ESCAPED FROM THE BACK YARD OF THE HOUSE ON BARTLETT.

OR OF HIS HALLOWEEN COSTUMES.

DID I HEAR THAT HE DRESSED AS THE EASTER BUNNY???

BUT, THE MEMORY THAT I WILL ALWAYS TREASURE IS OF HAVING WATCHED ANDY DANCE IN HIS EARLY TWENTIES.

ANDY HEARD THE BEAT. HE HEARD THE RYTHMN, THE HARMONIES, THE FORWARD MOTION CREATED BY THE COMPOSER, AND THE LYRICS.

HE HEARD IT ALL, AND HE TRANSLATED IT INTO JOYOUS MOVEMENT. I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYONE ELSE MOVE AS ANDY DID, AND I CHOOSE TO REMEMBER THAT HAPPY MOMENT.

JOHN ANDREW MCGRATH, YOU FOUGHT THE GOOD FIGHT.
I WILL MISS YOU AND KEEP YOU IN MY HEART,

FOREVER.